Baton Rouge Iaido

Rank is a subject that gets quite a bit of attention in martial arts, so I wanted to talk about what it means in Eishin-Ryu iaido.

There's been a lot of discussion on the fact that rank has no objective meaning, which is true. Not only do standards vary among different martial arts and styles but even dojo and teachers. Further, the rank itself doesn't confer anything and on receiving a new rank you can't expect the outside world to notice or care.

This has led to what is in my opinion, a false belief that rank has no meaning whatsoever and/or shouldn't exist. Rank is useful in our system for a number of reasons.

For one, despite varying standards, seniors in our system do look for a cohesive set of behaviors for each rank. Behaviors/performance outside of that rank is a signal to teachers to focus on areas that need correction. That alone is a useful guide that makes the entirety of rank structure worthwhile.

Two, they're a useful tool for each practitioner to gauge their own performance. While comparison to other students is generally not advised, we do need to be able to see what everyone else is capable of and how we measure up--not necessarily as a competitive event, but as way of pushing us to be our best.

Further, certain senior ranks can demand responsibility. For instance, the rank you see in the picture is junhanshi, which means something like "sub master." I'm only half-joking when I say it really means "you should know better by now."

More important to me is that the next rank is hanshi, commonly translated as master. John Ray sensei says this is master in the sense of a master craftsman, not yet another title. However, even that is a heavy burden--do I have ability to ratchet down on my skills to honestly be awarded that rank? It's a lot to contemplate, but it also give me a palpable goal that doesn't let me rest on my laurels. It will be years before I attain it, but the training for it begins now.

It actually started the day after I tested in the airport while I waited with our Japanese sensei for their flight. I asked them about my performance and got a lesson on tenouchi, or grip. I had a couple things to fix there and I'm still working on it, even though I've worked on grip for decades. I still have blindspots. The push for excellence, in my mind, justifies the ranking system as well.

So, no, rank doesn't have any objective meaning, but I think one of the ways that iaido has been a boon to me is by examining my reasons and motivations for everything I do. When I think about it, the subjective meaning in my life has been the cause for both fulfillment and drive, rather than any external, objective validity.

This is my latest rank certificate, and I'll break down each part:

The border is the four guardian animals that date back well into not just Japanese, but Chinese history. More about them here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Symbols

The gold seal at the top is the kenkatabami, the symbol of both Eishin ryu and the one chosen by Fukui soke.

The three red seals are kaku-in, seals like hanko, but specifically for official groups. For instance, the one in the upper right is the seal of our style, Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu. The kanji stylization also dates back to China.

The kanji is generally read right to left in promotion ceremonies, so I'll translate them line by line:

First line: my name in katakana
Second line: the rank in our style, Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu (style) Junhanshi (rank)
Third line: this reads migi inkasu, meaning "the person named to the right is certified as that rank"
Fourth line: the date. This is given in the Imperial year (koki). This gives it a very strong Japanese cultural tie. Japan also lists calendar dates from biggest to smallest, ie, year-month-day. In this case, the Imperial Year 2686, third month, 21st day (March 21, 2026).
Fifth line may be the most interesting. It's the name of our style again, but this time with the additive "iai heiho," meaning school of strategy or strategic methods. That is, we're not either iai-do or iai-jutsu. Colloquially, we refer to it as iaido, because it's more familiar.
Sixth line refers to the head of our system, ie, the 23rd head of the orthodox system, Fukui Masataka Masato soke.

This one was an important one for me. It really came with a sense of accomplishment and duty. I'm proud to have this rank, but much more proud to be a part of a system that creates and sustains it.

Today was a special day for BRI--we got a visit and a class from John Ray sensei, who taught class this morning.

This was followed by a lot of promotions--two junhanshi, three kyoshi and a renshi, rokudan and godan! I couldn't have imagined 26 years ago it would turn out quite like this, but I'm very proud of all of our students who worked so hard and continue to be an inspiration for our new students who will be testing next year. Congratulations to all!

Made it back to BR after a long, but fulfilling week at the 2026 Beikoku Tendai Iaido Kai Koshukai.

Congratulations to all of my students who attended--they represented the dojo well and were a big help in making it happen.

Congratulations to everyone who tested for their next rank. I can report that everyone passed! Official word will come from Japan in about a month, but here's the test candidates and the ranks they tested for:

Jentry Thomason, godan
Lu Xiaotian, rokudan
Joseph David, renshi
John Borne, kyoshi
Jon Pearson, kyoshi
Nicholas Wilson, kyoshi
John Lautermilch, junhanshi
Neil Melancon, junhanshi

Special thanks to Tanida Hiroshi sensei and Chikamoto Kazuhiko sensei who spent three long days training us and getting up at 4am this morning to catch a flight back to Japan!

Thank you, as always, to the BTIK Kaicho, John Ray sensei, without whom none of this would be possible.

Heard the news about Kim Taylor sensei. He was an influence on us, even though I never met him in person.

I contacted John Ray sensei in June of 2000 and in August, I travelled to Dallas to train with him the first time. In between that time, I ordered two of Sei Do Kai's videos with Kim sensei explaining how to put the uniform on, how to behave in class, the basics of starting iaido, etc.

I found out that Ray sensei had gone to Guelph for one of the budo events, and I was enamored with the idea, especially doing three other budo at the time. It sounded like heaven.

Later on, I would correspond with Kim sensei on the Iaido-L listserv, which was social media before social media. He ran the group and it connected me with people worldwide. There was a sense of connection there and Kim sensei was at the forefront of linking people up in this art across the world.

On Tuesday night at the end of our iaido class, we did our tome waza in honor of him and his passing. I hope it's of some comfort to his students and family that his legacy will live on.

I'm excited to announce we finally have a webpage after all these years!

I want to first and foremost thank Joseph David, who has pushed me to get this done for years and is responsible for the design and maintence of the site. It's his brainchild and he deserves full credit for it. Domo arigato gozaimasu, David-san!

We're still working on the history page and we'll soon have photos for each instructor, but for now, please feel free to use this as a reference!

Baton Rouge Iaido Learn the 450 year old art of Japanese swordsmanship.

Happy New Year/明けましておめでとうございます！

Today we had another successful Hatsunnuki, or first draw of the year. Weve had a successful year, with new students and a new dojo, but there's always room for more!

Also, we have a new web site we're launching soon to help provide more information about what we do. Hope 2026 is a great year for all!

BRI has completed a successful 2025 Louisiana embukai!

Some thanks are due first. John Lautermilch sensei led us through an intensive ashi waza (footwork) session Saturday afternoon. Immediately after, Jon Pearson sensei brought his experience as a flight instructor to a lecture about the nature of human error, how to recognize it and the best ways to manage them, with applicability to both iai and personal development.

It fit perfectly with this year's theme of chigai, or mistake/error/discrepancy. While this may seem like a funny theme, it is what we work on day in and day out--we look to our teachers for correct technique, but look to ourselves for error and deviation. How to handle mistakes, both technically and personally, is a major part of the path of iaido. Thanks once again to Nic Wilson sensei for his beautiful brushwork!

In addition, we did both tachi uchi no kurai and tsumeai no kurai, as well as an embu to cap the weekend off, so there was som serious practice in there, too.

Thanks once again to Wall to Wall Martial Arts for use of their dojo once again Saturday morning, as well as American Family Martial Arts for our new home.

Thanks also to Jentry Thomason for the pictures. A successful weekend and we look forward to next year!

Hello everyone, we have some exciting news: starting today, Baton Rouge Iaido is moving into its new home at American Family Martial Arts on Jefferson!

First off, I want to offer my profound thanks to Wall to Wall Martial Arts--James, Patti, Kristine and Josh have been nothing but kind and accommodating to us over these last nine years. We will remain grateful to them forever for giving us a home when we were unceremoniously kicked out of our last one. If you are interested in Judo and BJJ, there is no place in the Greater Baton Rouge area better than W2W!

Second, we're excited to be in this new space with Michael Tullier sensei, who has graciously allowed us to keep the same schedule, so we'll still have classes Tuesday/Thursday from 8:30-9:45 and Sundays from 1-3 p.m. Our new address is 8775 Jefferson Highway in Baton Rouge, near the Drusilla shopping mall.

If you're interested in trying out our classes, the first two are always free and we'll provide the equipment you need. Please come see us at our new location!

We'll be demonstrating at the Japan Fest again this year, beginning at 10:30a in the Besthoff Sculpture garden. It should be under a tent this year, so please come out and see us!

Japan Fest - New Orleans Museum of Art Celebrate Japanese culture through art, performances, food, and more at Japan Fest, organized by NOMA, the Japan Club in New Orleans, and the Consulate General of Japan in Nashville.

A reminder that Japanese culture is incredibly old, rich and full of traditions that demand they be treated respectfully. While there's plenty of fun things to do and ways to participate, there's a recent "trend" of behaving badly for either social media views or because someone thinks they can act any way they please without consequences. This is not only abhorrent behavior, but it keeps people from being able to see the deeper cultural aspects Japan has to offer.

Age-old Gion Festival goes ahead despite downpour